Terminal device, infrastructure equipment, methods and integrated circuitry

ABSTRACT

A terminal device for use with a wireless telecommunications network, the terminal device comprising: storage configured to store ancillary information not essential to every connection between the terminal device and the wireless telecommunications network; a controller configured to produce data indicative of the stored ancillary information; a transmitter configured to transmit the produced data to the wireless telecommunication network; and a receiver configured to receive an indication from the wireless telecommunication network to transmit the ancillary information to the wireless telecommunication network, wherein in response to the indication, the transmitter is configured to transmit the ancillary information.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.16/077,282, filed Aug. 10, 2018, which is a National Stage Applicationbased on PCT/EP2017/051086, filed Jan. 19, 2017, which claims priorityto EP 16155580.0, filed Feb. 12, 2016, the entire contents of each areincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND Field of Disclosure

The present disclosure relates to a terminal device, infrastructureequipment, methods and integrated circuitry.

Description of Related Art

The “background” description provided herein is for the purpose ofgenerally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of thepresently named inventors, to the extent it is described in thisbackground section, as well as aspects of the description which may nototherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neitherexpressly or impliedly admitted as prior art against the presentinvention.

Third and fourth generation wireless communications systems, such asthose based on the third generation project partnership (3GPP) definedUMTS and Long Term Evolution (LTE) architecture are able to supportsophisticated services such as instant messaging, video calls as well ashigh speed internet access. For example, with the improved radiointerface and enhanced data rates provided by LTE systems, a user isable to enjoy high data rate applications such as mobile video streamingand mobile video conferencing that would previously only have beenavailable via a fixed line data connection. The demand to deploy thirdand fourth generation networks is therefore strong and the coverage areaof these networks, i.e. geographic locations where access to thenetworks is possible, is expected to increase rapidly. However, whilstfourth generation networks can support communications at high data rateand low latencies from devices such as smart phones and tabletcomputers, it is expected that future wireless communications networkswill need to support communications to and from a much wider range ofdevices, including reduced complexity devices, machine typecommunication devices, devices which require little or no mobility, highresolution video displays and virtual reality headsets. As such,supporting such a wide range of communications devices can represent atechnical challenge for a wireless communications network.

A current technical area of interest to those working in the field ofwireless and mobile communications is known as “The Internet of Things”or IoT for short. The 3GPP has proposed to develop technologies forsupporting narrow band (NB)-IoT using an LTE or 4G wireless accessinterface and wireless infrastructure. Such IoT devices are expected tobe low complexity and inexpensive devices requiring infrequentcommunication of relatively low bandwidth data. It is also expected thatthere will be an extremely large number of IoT devices which would needto be supported in a cell of the wireless communications network.Furthermore such NB-IoT devices are likely to be deployed indoors and/orin remote locations making radio communications challenging.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

According to a first aspect, there is provided a terminal device for usewith a wireless telecommunications network, the terminal devicecomprising:

storage configured to store ancillary information not essential to everyconnection between the terminal device and the wirelesstelecommunications network; a controller configured to produce dataindicative of the stored ancillary information; a transmitter configuredto transmit the produced data to the wireless telecommunication network;and a receiver configured to receive an indication from the wirelesstelecommunication network to transmit the ancillary information to thewireless telecommunication network, wherein in response to theindication, the transmitter is configured to transmit the ancillaryinformation.

Further respective aspects and features are defined by the appendedclaims.

The foregoing paragraphs have been provided by way of generalintroduction, and are not intended to limit the scope of the followingclaims. The described embodiments, together with further advantages,will be best understood by reference to the following detaileddescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete appreciation of the disclosure and many of the attendantadvantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes betterunderstood by reference to the following detailed description whenconsidered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein likereference numerals designate identical or corresponding parts throughoutthe several views, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an example of a mobiletelecommunication system;

FIG. 2 is a schematic representation illustrating a frame structure of adown-link of a wireless access interface according to an LTE standard;

FIG. 3 is a schematic representation illustrating a frame structure ofan up-link of wireless access interface according to an LTE standard;

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of a communications device and aninfrastructure equipment;

FIG. 5 is a schematic signal diagram explaining a control plane solutionfor mobile originating data;

FIG. 6 is a schematic signal diagram explaining a control plane solutionfor mobile terminating data;

FIG. 7 is a schematic signal diagram explaining a user plane solutionwith signal enhancements;

FIG. 8 is a schematic signal diagram explaining a user plane solutionwith signal enhancements for mobile originating data;

FIG. 9 is a schematic signal diagram explaining a user plane solutionwith signal enhancements for mobile terminating data;

FIG. 10 is a schematic signal diagram explaining a first optionaccording to embodiments;

FIG. 11 is a schematic signal diagram explaining a second optionaccording to embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Conventional Communications System

FIG. 1 provides a schematic diagram illustrating some basicfunctionality of a mobile telecommunications network/system 100operating in accordance with LTE principles and which may be adapted toimplement embodiments of the disclosure as described further below.Various elements of FIG. 1 and their respective modes of operation arewell-known and defined in the relevant standards administered by the3GPP® body, and also described in many books on the subject, forexample, Holma H. and Toskala A [1]. It will be appreciated thatoperational aspects of the telecommunications network which are notspecifically described below may be implemented in accordance with anyknown techniques, for example according to the relevant standards.

The network 100 includes a plurality of base stations 101 connected to acore network 102. Each base station provides a coverage area 103 (i.e. acell) within which data can be communicated to and from communicationsdevices 104. Data is transmitted from base stations 101 tocommunications devices 104 within their respective coverage areas 103via a radio downlink Data is transmitted from communications devices 104to the base stations 101 via a radio uplink. The uplink and downlinkcommunications are made using radio resources that are licensed forexclusive use by the operator of the network 100. The core network 102routes data to and from the communications devices 104 via therespective base stations 101 and provides functions such asauthentication, mobility management, charging and so on. Acommunications device may also be referred to as a mobile station, userequipment (UE), user device, mobile radio, terminal device and so forth.A base station may also be referred to as a transceiver station, NodeB,eNodeB (eNB for short), infrastructure equipment and so forth.

Wireless communications systems such as those arranged in accordancewith the 3GPP defined Long Term Evolution (LTE) architecture use anorthogonal frequency division modulation (OFDM) based interface for theradio downlink (so-called OFDMA) and a single carrier frequency divisionmultiple access scheme (SC-FDMA) on the radio uplink.

FIG. 2 provides a simplified schematic diagram of the structure of adownlink of a wireless access interface that may be provided by or inassociation with the eNB of FIG. 1 when the communications system isoperating in accordance with the LTE standard. In LTE systems thewireless access interface of the downlink from an eNB to a UE is basedupon an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) access radiointerface. In an OFDM interface the resources of the available bandwidthare divided in frequency into a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers anddata is transmitted in parallel on a plurality of orthogonalsubcarriers, where bandwidths between 1.4 MHz and 20 MHz bandwidth maybe divided into 128 to 2048 orthogonal subcarriers for example. Eachsubcarrier bandwidth may take any value but in LTE it is conventionallyfixed at 15 kHz. However it has been proposed in the future [2] [3] toprovide also a reduced subcarrier spacing of 3.75 kHz for certain partsof the LTE wireless access interface for either the uplink or thedownlink or both. As shown in FIG. 2 , the resources of the wirelessaccess interface are also temporally divided into frames where a frame200 lasts 10 ms and is subdivided into 10 subframes 201 each with aduration of 1 ms. Each subframe is formed from 14 OFDM symbols and isdivided into two slots each of which comprise six or seven OFDM symbolsdepending on whether a normal or extended cyclic prefix is beingutilised between OFDM symbols for the reduction of inter symbolinterference. The resources within a slot may be divided into resourcesblocks 203 each comprising 12 subcarriers for the duration of one slotand the resources blocks further divided into resource elements 204which span one subcarrier for one OFDM symbol, where each rectangle 204represents a resource element. More details of the down-link structureof the LTE wireless access interface are provided in Annex 1.

FIG. 3 provides a simplified schematic diagram of the structure of anuplink of an LTE wireless access interface that may be provided by or inassociation with the eNB of FIG. 1 . In LTE networks the uplink wirelessaccess interface is based upon a single carrier frequency divisionmultiplexing FDM (SC-FDM) interface and downlink and uplink wirelessaccess interfaces may be provided by frequency division duplexing (FDD)or time division duplexing (TDD), where in TDD implementations subframesswitch between uplink and downlink subframes in accordance withpredefined patterns. However, regardless of the form of duplexing used,a common uplink frame structure is utilised. The simplified structure ofFIG. 3 illustrates such an uplink frame in an FDD implementation. Aframe 300 is divided in to 10 subframes 301 of 1 ms duration where eachsubframe 301 comprises two slots 302 of 0.5 ms duration.

Each slot is then formed from seven OFDM symbols 303 where a cyclicprefix 304 is inserted between each symbol in a manner equivalent tothat in downlink subframes. In FIG. 3 a normal cyclic prefix is used andtherefore there are seven OFDM symbols within a subframe, however, if anextended cyclic prefix were to be used, each slot would contain only sixOFDM symbols. The resources of the uplink subframes are also dividedinto resource blocks and resource elements in a similar manner todownlink subframes. More details of the LTE up-link represented in FIG.3 are provided in Annex 1.

Narrowband Internet of Things

As explained above, it has been proposed to develop an adaptation of amobile communications network to accommodate narrow band communicationswithin an existing wireless access interface which has been developed toprovide broadband wireless communications. For example, in 3GPP aproject relating to improvements to LTE wireless access interfaces toprovide for a Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) wireless accessinterface was agreed [2]. This project is aimed at improved indoorcoverage, support for a massive number of low throughput devices, lowdelay sensitivity, ultra-low device cost, low device power consumptionand (optimised) network architecture. An example of such a device is asmart meter.

It has been proposed that an NB-IoT communications system supports abandwidth of only 180 kHz and can have three operational modes:

-   -   1. ‘Stand-alone operation’ utilizing for example the spectrum        currently being used by GERAN systems as a replacement of one or        more GSM carriers    -   2. ‘Guard band operation’ utilizing the unused resource blocks        within a LTE carrier's guard-band    -   3. ‘In-band operation’ utilizing resource blocks within a normal        LTE carrier

FIG. 4 provides an example schematic block diagram of a terminal deviceor UE 104 and a infrastructure equipment or eNB 101. As shown in FIG. 4, the UE 104 includes a transmitter 401 and a receiver 402 (whichtogether form a transceiver) which are controlled by a controller 403.Storage 404 is also provided. Correspondingly, the eNB 101 includes atransmitter 411 and a receiver 412 (which together form a transceiver)which are controlled by a controller 413 (which can also implement ascheduler function). As explained above, the UE 104 transmits andreceives signals to and from the eNB 101 via a wireless access interfaceprovided by the eNB as part of the wireless communications network. Eachof the UE 104 and eNB 101 are configured to exchange signals with eachother using NB-IoT.

For the purposes of mobility, NB-IOT devices can support cellreselection. They do not need to support network initiated handoverprocedure. When supporting cell reselection, the UE 104 needs to performmeasurements on neighbouring cells. The neighbouring cells can either beon the same frequency (UE 104 performs intra-frequency cell reselection)or on a different frequency (UE 104 performs inter-frequency cellreselection).

Despite not supporting connected mode handover, a number of use-casesfor the provision of measurements from the UE 104 to the network havebeen identified. Some of these use-cases include network planning andconfiguration for, in particular and not limited to, intra and interfrequency neighbour cell information, re-direction with RRC connectionrelease to enable load balancing, and positioning for such applicationsas device tracking and the like. These are referenced in [3]

Additionally, due to security, measurement information cannot be sent tothe network without first having activated AS level security (ciphering,integrity protection) in order to avoid potentially disclosing any UElocation related information conveyed in the Measurement reports, suchas reference signal received power (RSRP) measurements of neighbourcells which could be used for example for RF fingerprint matching. Ofcourse, not all measurements necessarily require AS level security, suchas where the measurements include just the cell ID or an indication ofsuitable carriers.

In NB-IoT, there are two mechanisms for exchanging data; the user planesolution and the control plane solution. Both of these mechanisms areknown to the skilled person. The control plane solution is described inrelation to FIGS. 5 and 6 and the user plane solution is described withreference to FIG. 7 . However, the pertinent points are noted below.

-   -   1. User-plane solution. This is very similar to normal LTE        operation, whereby a connection is established and the data is        sent using a ciphered user-plane radio bearer. There is an        enhancement to allow the RRC Connection to be suspended and        resumed—the Access Stratum (AS) context (including security        information) is stored in the UE and the eNB 101 and the network        in order to quickly resume a connection. It is proposed with        this solution to report measurements of the network taken by the        eNB 101 such as the RSRP of the cell and neighbouring cells.    -   2. Control-plane solution. In this procedure the eNB 101 sends        data piggybacked on a control plane signalling message, such as        RRC Connection Setup complete. The data is sent without AS        security (security is handled by Non-Access Stratum (NAS)). It        is not possible to transmit detailed measurement information        using the control plane solution due to lack of AS security,        since the measurement information is handled by AS level and it        is a requirement that security must be active in order to        transmit measurement information in LTE.

However, although it is desirable to send measurement information suchas the RSRP for self optimising networks, positioning, or radio resourcemanagement, or other data such as battery data, diagnostic informationabout the device, or other ancillary information relating to either thenetwork or about the status of the terminal device or the user of theterminal device, to the network. The narrow bandwidth and small batterysize of NB-IoT devices means that this ancillary information should besent only when necessary. More generally, although this is particularlyrelevant to NB-IoT devices, the desire to reduce battery consumption anduse bandwidth more efficiently is applicable to any kind of terminaldevice and wireless network.

It is an aim of the present disclosure to address this.

Referring to FIG. 5 a system 500 is shown to explain the control planesolution where data originates at the UE 104. The control plane solutionis understood by the skilled person. The UE 104 is shown connected toeNB 101. The eNB then communicates with the network 500. The UE 104attaches to the network in 515. The UE 104 connects to the eNB 101 in520 and the eNB 101 passes this to the network in 525. The integrity ofthe data and decryption is performed by the network in 530 and iscommunicated to the remainder of the network. A reply is subsequentlyreceived from the network. The data communication within the network isindicated as 535.

The reply is encrypted by the network in 540 and is passed to the eNB101 in 545. The reply is passed to the UE 104 and the connection betweenthe eNB 101 and the UE 104 is released in 550.

Referring to FIG. 6 a system 600 is shown to explain the control planesolution where the data terminates at the UE 104. The UE 104 is shownconnected to eNB 101. The eNB 101 then communicates with the network 500in step 605. Data is passed to the network in step 610. The networkpasses the data to the eNB 101 and the eNB 101 forwards this to the UE104. The UE 104 passes a corresponding service request back to thenetwork (via the eNB 101). This is step 615 in FIG. 6 .

The network passes the downlink NAS message to the eNB 101 which issubsequently forwarded to the UE 104 as a RRC message in step 620. TheUE 104 passes an uplink RRC message to the eNB 101 that is subsequentlypassed to the network in step 625. The network passes the data into thenetwork in step 630.

FIG. 7 shows a proposed enhancement 700 to the user plane solution whichwould be known to the skilled person. In essence, this enhancementallows the UE 104 to connect more quickly to the network with lesssignal overhead by suspending the connection rather than terminating theconnection completely. The suspend signalling is shown in 705, theresume is shown in 715 and a known resume with fallback to setup isshown in 710.

FIG. 8 explains the user plane solution where the data originates at theUE 104. A random access preamble 805 is selected by the UE 104. Therandom access preamble is selected from a set of preambles provided bythe network. This is sent to the eNB 101 in 805. The eNB 101 replies tothe random access preamble in 810. The UE 104 sends a RRC connectionresume request (assuming that the UE 104 is suspended) or an RRCconnection request (if the UE 104 is operating in idle mode). This isstep 815. After connection, uplink data to be communicated to thenetwork is sent in 820. An RRC connection resume complete signal is sentbetween the eNB 101 and the UE 104. Up to this point, the data betweenthe UE 104 and the eNB is not encrypted. Transmission of encrypted datais enabled in 830. The transfer of data between the UE 104 and the eNB101 occurs in 835 and the connection is suspended again in 840.

FIG. 9 explains the user plane solution where the data terminates at theUE 104. The data is sent across the network in steps 905, 910 and 915.The eNB 101 pages the UE 104 in 920. The RRC resume procedure iscommenced at step 925. The UE 104 selects a random access preamble froma set of preambles provided by the network in 930. The eNB 101 repliesto the random access preamble in 935. The UE 104 sends a RRC connectionresume request (assuming that the UE 104 is suspended) or an RRCconnection request (if the UE 104 is operating in idle mode). This isstep 940. An RRC connection resume complete signal is sent between theeNB 101 and the UE 104 in step 945. Encryption is enabled at this point(step 950). Various network signalling then takes place in step 955followed by downlink and uplink data in step 960.

FIG. 10 explains a signalling diagram 1000 according to embodiments ofthe disclosure. In the signalling diagram 1000, a first option is shown.It should be noted that the network 1005 includes eNB 104, but alsoother parts of the infrastructure. This nomenclature is for ease ofreference.

In idle mode, the UE 101 takes measurements. These measurements mayinclude the RSRP or RSRQ, the signal strength or quality of the currentcell or neighbouring cells and other measurements relating to thenetwork environment. Other additional measurements such as positioninformation of the UE 101 and the like may also be taken. Thesemeasurements are not critical to every connection between the network1005 and the UE 101. In other words, failure to provide thesemeasurements to the network will not terminate the connection betweenthe UE 101 and the network 1005. These measurements are examples ofancillary data which may be provided to the network. Other examples ofthe ancillary data include home energy readings if the NB-IoT device isa smart meter, personal health information of the user if the NB-IoT isa fitness band, battery life remaining or the like. In other words, theancillary data is not limited to data pertaining to a measurement.

However, as already noted, in the event that the ancillary data ismeasurement data, these measurements may be desirable from the network'sperspective. For example, during RRC Connection establishment or at RRCConnection Release, the eNB 104 may redirect the UE 101 to a differenteNB if the reported RSRP value of that cell is above a threshold.However, the connection between the UE 101 and the network 1005 wouldnot be terminated if the UE 101 was not diverted to the different eNB.

This ancillary data is stored within storage 404 within the UE 104.

Referring back to FIG. 10 , when the UE 104 wishes to initiate datatransfer, a random access preamble is selected from a set of randomaccess preambles provided by the network. This is explained withreference to FIGS. 5 and 8 for the control plane solution and the userplane solution respectively. In embodiments of the disclosure, however,the network allocates specific ones of the set of random accesspreambles to indicate that the UE 104 has ancillary data that is notcritical to the connection. This random access preamble may simplyindicate that the UE 104 has ancillary data to transmit.

The selection of the preamble may also indicate the size of theancillary data. For example, for an RSRP measurement, only a smallamount of data would be required. However, other forms of ancillary datamay be larger, such as signal quality information for all receivedcarriers. In this case, the UE 104 will select the random accesspreamble according to the size of the ancillary data. By selecting thepreamble in this manner, the network understands when the ancillary datashould be transferred.

To restate this, the first (critical) part of the message would alwaysbe below the threshold, so UE 104 would select from a preamble set A ifthere is no additional information, or if the additional informationdoes not cause the message size threshold to be exceeded. If theadditional information causes the message size threshold to be exceeded,then the UE 104 would select from preamble set B.

The controller 413 determines, firstly whether the storage 404 containsthe ancillary data. The controller 413 may also determine the size ofthe ancillary data. On this basis, an appropriate random preamble isselected in step 1010. The selected preamble is sent to the network 1005via the eNB 104 in the Random Access Preamble in 1015 (noted in step 515in FIG. 5 ; 605 in FIG. 6 ; 805 in FIGS. 8 and 930 in FIG. 9 ).

The network 1005 then decides at step 1020 whether the ancillary datashould be transmitted by the UE 104. This decision may be based on thecongestion on the cell upon which the UE 104 is to be re-directed. Ifthe network 1005 has high levels of congestion on the cell, the networkmay request the UE 104 provides the RSRP measurement of neighbouringcells. This allows the network to provide better traffic management.Alternatively, the network 1005 may determine that the UE 104 shouldtransmit the energy consumption of a household at a particular point inthe day, for example, when the energy provider's servers are less busy.

The network 1005 (via the eNB 101) provides a random access response(RAR) indicating whether the additional information should be sent ornot. The random access response is step 1025 in FIG. 10 , part of step515 in FIG. 5 ; step 605 in FIG. 6, 810 in FIGS. 8 and 935 in FIG. 9 .This indication informs the UE 104 which message size to use as well aswhich resources or random access channel to send the ancillaryinformation on. In addition, the indication provided by the network maytell the UE 104 the format in which to send the ancillary data. Forexample, the network 1005 may inform the UE 104 to send just the cell ID(which is a shorter message) if that is all the network 1005 requires.Alternatively or additionally, the network may request other informationsuch as RSRP values which is a longer message, but contains differentinformation useful to the network 1005. Further, the network 1005 mayinstruct the UE 104 to use either the user plane solution or the controlplane solution. In other words, in the event of the control planesolution, the controller of the UE 104 would control the transmitter toset up a connection with the network 1005 which allows transmission ofthe ancillary data by piggybacking this data on a control plane message.Also, in the event of a user plane solution, the controller of the UE104 would configure the transmitter to set up a connection with adedicated user plane radio bearer for transmitting the ancillary data.In essence, the UE 104 may receive from the network 1005 an indicationof the type and format of the message which is to convey the ancillarydata.

In response to the indication in step 1025, the UE 104 determineswhether to transmit the ancillary information. This is step 1030.Depending on the indication from the network 1005, the UE 104 may decideto send particular ancillary data or ancillary data in a particularformat. The ancillary data is then sent on the RRC connection request instep 1035 if the size of ancillary data is small enough. Of course, inthe event that the UE is using the resume procedure, the ancillary datawill be sent on the RRC connection resume request.

In FIG. 11 a second option is shown. This is explained with signaldiagram 1100. Again, network 1005 includes the eNB 104.

In this option, instead of indicating the presence of the ancillary datain the random access preamble and receiving an indication from thenetwork in the random access response, the determination of the presenceof the ancillary data is performed in step 1105. In other words, the UE104 determines the presence of the ancillary data after the UE 104receives the random access response. The determination by the UE 104 isthe same as explained with reference to option 1 above.

The indication, instead of being made using a random access preamble asin option 1, the indication is made in the RRC connection request, orresume message. This is step 1110. The determination by the network 1005is the same as explained above as to whether, and of what type ofancillary data, the network requires. This is step 1115. Thisdetermination response from the network 1005 is sent in the RRCconnection setup or resume message in step 1120.

In response to the indication in step 1120, the UE 104 determineswhether to transmit the ancillary information. This is step 1125.Depending on the indication from the network 1005, the UE 104 may decideto send particular ancillary data or ancillary data in a particularformat. The ancillary data is then sent on the RRC connection setupcomplete message in step 1130. The RRC connection setup complete messagemay be used to transmit the small sized ancillary data, such as cell IDsor cells meeting a threshold. However for other ancillary data such asRSRP measurement data (which are larger in size and should be sentsecurely to not allow a third party to establish the location of the UE104), then the ancillary data may be sent in a later message.

In the examples of FIGS. 10 and 11 , it is possible for the network 1005to also indicate to the UE 104 whether to use the user plane or thecontrol plane solution. For example, if the network 1005 decides toretrieve only the critical information then the control plane can beused. However, if the network 1005 wants to retrieve ancillary data thatis measurement data for positioning or another purpose, then the userplane solution may be activated. Similarly, as explained above, for thesmart-meter example, then the user plane solution may be activated assecurity is required.

The choice of message in which to send the ancillary information dependson the type of data as well as the size of data to be sent. For example,a short measurement report may be sent in step 1130 in the RRCconnection setup complete message. However, a longer report of ancillarydata such as one including RSRP measurements would be sent in ameasurement report (step 1150). Given the content of the RSRPmeasurement data (which includes position information), the measurementreport is sent after the activation of security in step 1140.

A third option is also envisaged. The third option is a combination ofoptions 1 and 2 and determines in which position within the signaldiagram to send ancillary message. Specifically, if the ancillary datato be transferred fits within the RRC connection request and no securityis required, the ancillary information is transferred on the RRCconnection request. Alternatively, if the ancillary message is largerthan the RRC connection request, but is smaller than the RRC connectionsetup complete message and no security is required, then the ancillarydata is sent in the RRC connection setup complete message and thecontrol plane solution is required. Alternatively, if the ancillary datais larger than the RRC connection setup complete message or theancillary data requires security, then the user plane solution isselected and the ancillary data is sent as a separate message after thesecurity activation step 1140.

Various features of embodiments of the present technique are defined bythe following numbered clauses:

1. A terminal device for use with a wireless telecommunications network,the terminal device comprising:

-   -   storage configured to store ancillary information not essential        to every connection between the terminal device and the wireless        telecommunications network;    -   a controller configured to produce data indicative of the stored        ancillary information;    -   a transmitter configured to transmit the produced data to the        wireless telecommunication network; and    -   a receiver configured to receive an indication from the wireless        telecommunication network to transmit the ancillary information        to the wireless telecommunication network, wherein in response        to the indication, the transmitter is configured to transmit the        ancillary information.        2. A terminal device according to clause 1, wherein the        controller is configured to measure a signal parameter of the        wireless telecommunications network, and the ancillary        information is measurement data which is measured by the        terminal device        3. A terminal device according to clause 1 or 2, wherein the        produced data is a preamble and the controller is configured to        select the preamble from a set of random access preambles        provided by the wireless telecommunications network.        4. A terminal device according to clause 1, 2 or 3, wherein        produced data is a preamble and the controller is configured to        select the preamble based on the size of the stored ancillary        information so that a first preamble is selected in the event        that the size of stored ancillary information is at or below a        first threshold and that a second, different, preamble is        selected in the event that the size of the stored ancillary        information is above the first threshold.        5. A terminal device according to clause 1 or 2, wherein the        produced data is a random access message indication.        6. A terminal device according to clause 5, wherein in the event        that the size of the ancillary information is less than a second        threshold value, the transmitter is configured to transmit the        ancillary information in the radio resource control connection        setup complete signal.        7. A terminal device according to any of clause 1 to 4, wherein        the produced data is a random access preamble and in the event        that the size of the ancillary information is less than a second        threshold value, the transmitter is configured to transmit the        ancillary information in the radio resource control connection        setup complete signal and the controller is configured to        control the transmitter to transmit the ancillary information        using a control plane message.        8. A terminal device according to any of clause 1 to 4, wherein        the produced data is a random access preamble and in the event        that the size of the ancillary information is at or greater than        a second threshold value, and/or the ancillary information        requires a secure connection with the network, the controller is        configured to control the transmitter to transmit the ancillary        information using a dedicated user plane radio bearer.        9. A terminal device according to any preceding clause, wherein        the terminal device is a Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT)        terminal device.        10. A terminal device according to any preceding clause, wherein        the receiver is configured to receive from the wireless        telecommunication network an indication of the type and format        of the message which is to convey the ancillary information.        11. Infrastructure equipment for use with a wireless        telecommunications network, the infrastructure equipment        comprising:    -   a receiver configured to receive indicative data from a terminal        device indicating that the terminal device has stored ancillary        information not essential to every connection between the        terminal device and the wireless telecommunications network;    -   a controller configured to determine whether to request the        ancillary information from the terminal device; and    -   a transmitter, under control of the controller, configured to        transmit a request for the stored ancillary information; wherein        the receiver is configured to receive the ancillary information.        12. Infrastructure equipment according to clause 11, wherein the        ancillary information is measurement data which is measured by        the terminal device        13. Infrastructure equipment according to clause 11 or 12,        wherein the controller is configured to produce a set of        preamble data and the indicative data is selected by the        terminal device from the set of preamble data.        14. Infrastructure equipment according to any of clause 11 12 or        13, wherein the indicative data is a random access message        indication.        15. Infrastructure equipment according to clause 14, wherein in        the event that the size of the ancillary information is less        than a threshold value, the receiver is configured to receive        the ancillary information in the radio resource control        connection setup complete signal.        16. Infrastructure equipment according to any one of clause 11        to 15, wherein the indicative data is a random access preamble        and in the event that the size of the ancillary information is        less than a threshold value, the receiver is configured to        receive the ancillary information in the radio resource control        connection setup complete signal and the controller is        configured to control the receiver to receive the ancillary        information using a control plane message.        17. Infrastructure equipment according to any one of clause 11        to 15, wherein the indicative data is a random access preamble        and in the event that the size of the ancillary information is        at or greater than a threshold value, and/or the ancillary        information requires a secure connection with the network, the        controller is configured to control the receiver to receive the        ancillary information using a dedicated user plane radio bearer.        18. Infrastructure equipment according to any one of clause 11        to 15, wherein the infrastructure equipment is a Narrow Band        Internet of Things (NB-IoT) infrastructure equipment and the        terminal device is an NB-IoT terminal device.        19. Infrastructure equipment according to any one of clause 11        to 15, wherein the transmitter is configured to transmit to the        terminal device an indication of the type and format of the        message which is to convey the ancillary information.        20. A method of controlling a terminal device for use with a        wireless telecommunications network, the method comprising:    -   storing ancillary information not essential to every connection        between the terminal device and the wireless telecommunications        network;    -   producing data indicative of the stored ancillary information;    -   transmitting the produced data to the wireless telecommunication        network;    -   receiving an indication from the wireless telecommunication        network to transmit the ancillary information to the wireless        telecommunication network, wherein in response to the        indication; and    -   transmitting the ancillary information.        21. A method of controlling infrastructure equipment for use        with a wireless telecommunications network, the method        comprising:    -   receiving indicative data from a terminal device indicating that        the terminal device has stored ancillary information not        essential to every connection between the terminal device and        the wireless telecommunications network;    -   determining whether to request the ancillary information from        the terminal device; and    -   transmitting a request for the stored ancillary information;        wherein the receiver is configured to receive the ancillary        information.        22. Integrated circuitry for a terminal device for use with a        wireless telecommunications network, the integrated circuitry        comprising    -   a storage element configured to store ancillary information not        essential to every connection between the terminal device and        the wireless telecommunications network;    -   a controller element configured to produce data indicative of        the stored ancillary information;    -   a transmitter element configured to transmit the produced data        to the wireless telecommunication network; and    -   a receiver element configured to receive an indication from the        wireless telecommunication network to transmit the ancillary        information to the wireless telecommunication network, wherein        in response to the indication, the transmitter is configured to        transmit the ancillary information.        23. Integrated circuitry for infrastructure equipment for use        with a wireless telecommunications network, the integrated        circuitry comprising a receiver element configured to receive        indicative data from a terminal device indicating that the        terminal device has stored ancillary information not essential        to every connection between the terminal device and the wireless        telecommunications network;    -   a controller element configured to determine whether to request        the ancillary information from the terminal device; and        a transmitter element, under control of the controller element,        configured to transmit a request for the stored ancillary        information; wherein the receiver is configured to receive the        ancillary information.

Numerous modifications and variations of the present disclosure arepossible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to beunderstood that within the scope of the appended claims, the disclosuremay be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.

In so far as embodiments of the disclosure have been described as beingimplemented, at least in part, by software-controlled data processingapparatus, it will be appreciated that a non-transitory machine-readablemedium carrying such software, such as an optical disk, a magnetic disk,semiconductor memory or the like, is also considered to represent anembodiment of the present disclosure.

It will be appreciated that the above description for clarity hasdescribed embodiments with reference to different functional units,circuitry and/or processors. However, it will be apparent that anysuitable distribution of functionality between different functionalunits, circuitry and/or processors may be used without detracting fromthe embodiments.

Described embodiments may be implemented in any suitable form includinghardware, software, firmware or any combination of these. Describedembodiments may optionally be implemented at least partly as computersoftware running on one or more data processors and/or digital signalprocessors. The elements and components of any embodiment may bephysically, functionally and logically implemented in any suitable way.Indeed the functionality may be implemented in a single unit, in aplurality of units or as part of other functional units. As such, thedisclosed embodiments may be implemented in a single unit or may bephysically and functionally distributed between different units,circuitry and/or processors.

Although the present disclosure has been described in connection withsome embodiments, it is not intended to be limited to the specific formset forth herein. Additionally, although a feature may appear to bedescribed in connection with particular embodiments, one skilled in theart would recognize that various features of the described embodimentsmay be combined in any manner suitable to implement the technique.

Annex 1:

The simplified structure of the downlink of an LTE wireless accessinterface presented in FIG. 2 , also includes an illustration of eachsubframe 201, which comprises a control region 205 for the transmissionof control data, a data region 206 for the transmission of user data,reference signals 207 and synchronisation signals which are interspersedin the control and data regions in accordance with a predeterminedpattern. The control region 204 may contain a number of physicalchannels for the transmission of control data, such as a physicaldownlink control channel PDCCH, a physical control format indicatorchannel PCFICH and a physical HARQ indicator channel PHICH. The dataregion may contain a number of physical channel for the transmission ofdata, such as a physical downlink shared channel PDSCH and a physicalbroadcast channels PBCH. Although these physical channels provide a widerange of functionality to LTE systems, in terms of resource allocationand the present disclosure PDCCH and PDSCH are most relevant. Furtherinformation on the structure and functioning of the physical channels ofLTE systems can be found in [1].

Resources within the PDSCH may be allocated by an eNodeB to UEs beingserved by the eNodeB. For example, a number of resource blocks of thePDSCH may be allocated to a UE in order that it may receive data that ithas previously requested or data which is being pushed to it by theeNodeB, such as radio resource control RRC signalling. In FIG. 2 , UE1has been allocated resources 208 of the data region 206, UE2 resources209 and UE resources 210. UEs in a an LTE system may be allocated afraction of the available resources of the PDSCH and therefore UEs arerequired to be informed of the location of their allocated resourceswithin the PDCSH so that only relevant data within the PDSCH is detectedand estimated. In order to inform the UEs of the location of theirallocated communications resources, resource control informationspecifying downlink resource allocations is conveyed across the PDCCH ina form termed downlink control information DCI, where resourceallocations for a PDSCH are communicated in a preceding PDCCH instancein the same subframe. During a resource allocation procedure, UEs thusmonitor the PDCCH for DCI addressed to them and once such a DCI isdetected, receive the DCI and detect and estimate the data from therelevant part of the PDSCH.

Each uplink subframe may include a plurality of different channels, forexample a physical uplink shared channel PUSCH 305, a physical uplinkcontrol channel PUCCH 306, and a physical random access channel PRACH.The physical Uplink Control Channel PUCCH may carry control informationsuch as ACK/NACK to the eNodeB for downlink transmissions, schedulingrequest indicators SRI for UEs wishing to be scheduled uplink resources,and feedback of downlink channel state information CSI for example. ThePUSCH may carry UE uplink data or some uplink control data. Resources ofthe PUSCH are granted via PDCCH, such a grant being typically triggeredby communicating to the network the amount of data ready to betransmitted in a buffer at the UE. The PRACH may be scheduled in any ofthe resources of an uplink frame in accordance with a one of a pluralityof PRACH patterns that may be signalled to UE in downlink signallingsuch as system information blocks. As well as physical uplink channels,uplink subframes may also include reference signals. For example,demodulation reference signals DMRS 307 and sounding reference signalsSRS 308 may be present in an uplink subframe where the DMRS occupy thefourth symbol of a slot in which PUSCH is transmitted and are used fordecoding of PUCCH and PUSCH data, and where SRS are used for uplinkchannel estimation at the eNodeB. Further information on the structureand functioning of the physical channels of LTE systems can be found in[1].

In an analogous manner to the resources of the PDSCH, resources of thePUSCH are required to be scheduled or granted by the serving eNodeB andthus if data is to be transmitted by a UE, resources of the PUSCH arerequired to be granted to the UE by the eNode B. At a UE, PUSCH resourceallocation is achieved by the transmission of a scheduling request or abuffer status report to its serving eNodeB. The scheduling request maybe made, when there is insufficient uplink resource for the UE to send abuffer status report, via the transmission of Uplink Control InformationUCI on the PUCCH when there is no existing PUSCH allocation for the UE,or by transmission directly on the PUSCH when there is an existing PUSCHallocation for the UE. In response to a scheduling request, the eNodeBis configured to allocate a portion of the PUSCH resource to therequesting UE sufficient for transferring a buffer status report andthen inform the UE of the buffer status report resource allocation via aDCI in the PDCCH. Once or if the UE has PUSCH resource adequate to senda buffer status report, the buffer status report is sent to the eNodeBand gives the eNodeB information regarding the amount of data in anuplink buffer or buffers at the UE. After receiving the buffer statusreport, the eNodeB can allocate a portion of the PUSCH resources to thesending UE in order to transmit some of its buffered uplink data andthen inform the UE of the resource allocation via a DCI in the PDCCH.For example, presuming a UE has a connection with the eNodeB, the UEwill first transmit a PUSCH resource request in the PUCCH in the form ofa UCI. The UE will then monitor the PDCCH for an appropriate DCI,extract the details of the PUSCH resource allocation, and transmituplink data, at first comprising a buffer status report, and/or latercomprising a portion of the buffered data, in the allocated resources.

Although similar in structure to downlink subframes, uplink subframeshave a different control structure to downlink subframes, in particularthe upper 309 and lower 310 subcarriers/frequencies/resource blocks ofan uplink subframe are reserved for control signaling rather than theinitial symbols of a downlink subframe. Furthermore, although theresource allocation procedure for the downlink and uplink are relativelysimilar, the actual structure of the resources that may be allocated mayvary due to the different characteristics of the OFDM and SC-FDMinterfaces that are used in the downlink and uplink respectively. InOFDM each subcarrier is individually modulated and therefore it is notnecessary that frequency/subcarrier allocation are contiguous however,in SC-FDM subcarriers are modulation in combination and therefore ifefficient use of the available resources are to be made contiguousfrequency allocations for each UE are preferable.

As a result of the above described wireless interface structure andoperation, one or more UEs may communicate data to one another via acoordinating eNodeB, thus forming a conventional cellulartelecommunications system. Although cellular communications system suchas those based on the previously released LTE standards have beencommercially successful, a number of disadvantages are associated withsuch centralised systems. For example, if two UEs which are in closeproximity wish to communicate with each other, uplink and downlinkresources sufficient to convey the data are required.

Consequently, two portions of the system's resources are being used toconvey a single portion of data. A second disadvantage is that an eNodeBis required if UEs, even when in close proximity, wish to communicatewith one another. These limitations may be problematic when the systemis experiencing high load or eNodeB coverage is not available, forinstance in remote areas or when eNodeBs are not functioning correctly.Overcoming these limitations may increase both the capacity andefficiency of LTE networks but also lead to the creations of new revenuepossibilities for LTE network operators.

REFERENCES

-   -   [1] LTE for UMTS: OFDMA and SC-FDMA Based Radio Access, Harris        Holma and Antti Toskala, Wiley 2009, ISBN 978-0-470-99401-6.    -   [2] RP-151621, “New Work Item: NarrowBand IOT NB-IOT,” Qualcomm,        RAN #69    -   [3] R2-161309, “Measurement Reporting in NB-IoT”, 3GPP TSG-RAN2        Meeting #93

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method of controlling a terminal devicefor use with a wireless telecommunications network, the methodcomprising: storing ancillary information not essential to everyconnection between the terminal device and the wirelesstelecommunications network; producing data indicative of the storedancillary information; transmitting the produced data to the wirelesstelecommunication network; receiving an indication from the wirelesstelecommunication network to transmit the ancillary information to thewireless telecommunication network; determining, in accordance withwhether the ancillary information requires security, whether to transmitthe ancillary information using a control plane solution or a user planesolution; and transmitting the ancillary information using a determinedone of the control plane solution or the user plane solution.
 2. Themethod according to claim 1, comprising measuring a signal parameterfrom the wireless telecommunications network, and wherein the ancillaryinformation is measurement data which is measured by the terminaldevice.
 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the produced data isa preamble, and comprising selecting the preamble from a set of randomaccess preambles provided by the wireless telecommunications network. 4.The method according to claim 1, wherein the produced data is apreamble, and comprising selecting the preamble based on the size of thestored ancillary information so that a first preamble is selected in theevent that the size of stored ancillary information is at or below afirst threshold and selecting a second, different, preamble in the eventthat the size of the stored ancillary information is above the firstthreshold.
 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the produced datais a random access message indication.
 6. The method according to claim5, wherein in the event that the size of the ancillary information isless than a second threshold value, the method comprises transmittingthe ancillary information in the radio resource control connection setupcomplete signal.
 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein theproduced data is a random access preamble, and in the event that thesize of the ancillary information is less than a second threshold value,the method comprises transmitting the ancillary information in the radioresource control connection setup complete signal and transmitting theancillary information using a control plane message in the control planesolution.
 8. A method of controlling infrastructure equipment for usewith a wireless telecommunications network, the method comprising:receiving indicative data from a terminal device indicating that theterminal device has stored ancillary information not essential to everyconnection between the terminal device and the wirelesstelecommunications network; determining whether to request the ancillaryinformation from the terminal device; determining, in accordance withwhether the ancillary information requires security, whether theancillary information should be transmitted using a control planesolution or a user plane solution; and transmitting a request for thestored ancillary information; wherein the receiver is configured toreceive the ancillary information using a determined one of the controlplane solution or the user plane solution.
 9. The method according toclaim 8, wherein the ancillary information is measurement data which ismeasured by the terminal device.
 10. The method according to claim 8,comprising producing a set of preamble data, and wherein the indicativedata is selected by the terminal device from the set of preamble data.11. The method according to claim 8, wherein the indicative data is arandom access message indication.
 12. The method according to claim 11,wherein in the event that the size of the ancillary information is lessthan a threshold value, the method comprises receiving the ancillaryinformation in the radio resource control connection setup completesignal.
 13. The method according to claim 8, wherein the indicative datais a random access preamble, and in the event that the size of theancillary information is less than a threshold value, the methodcomprises receiving the ancillary information in the radio resourcecontrol connection setup complete signal and receiving the ancillaryinformation using a control plane message in the control plane solution.14. Integrated circuitry for infrastructure equipment for use with awireless telecommunications network, the integrated circuitrycomprising: circuitry configured to implement a receiver configured toreceive indicative data from a terminal device indicating that theterminal device has stored ancillary information not essential to everyconnection between the terminal device and the wirelesstelecommunications network; a controller configured to determine whetherto request the ancillary information from the terminal device and todetermine, in accordance with whether the ancillary information requiressecurity, whether to transmit the ancillary information using a controlplane solution or a user plane solution; and a transmitter, undercontrol of the controller, configured to transmit a request for thestored ancillary information; wherein the receiver is configured toreceive the ancillary information using a determined one of the controlplane solution or the user plane solution.
 15. The integrated circuitryaccording to claim 14, wherein the ancillary information is measurementdata which is measured by the terminal device.
 16. The integratedcircuitry according to claim 14, wherein the circuitry is configured toproduce a set of preamble data, and the indicative data is selected bythe terminal device from the set of preamble data.
 17. The integratedcircuitry according to claim 14, wherein the indicative data is a randomaccess message indication.
 18. The integrated circuitry according toclaim 14, wherein in the event that the size of the ancillaryinformation is less than a threshold value, the circuitry is configuredto receive the ancillary information in the radio resource controlconnection setup complete signal.
 19. The integrated circuitry accordingto claim 14, wherein the indicative data is a random access preamble,and in the event that the size of the ancillary information is less thana threshold value, the circuitry is configured to receive the ancillaryinformation in the radio resource control connection setup completesignal and receive the ancillary information using a control planemessage in the control plane solution.
 20. The integrated circuitryaccording to claim 14, wherein the indicative data is a random accesspreamble, and in the event that the size of the ancillary information isat or greater than a threshold value, and/or the ancillary informationrequires the secure connection with the network, the circuitry isconfigured to control the receiver to receive the ancillary informationusing a dedicated user plane radio bearer in the user plane solution.